After an accident with a critically injured truck driver, the highway 9 in the direction of Nuremberg in the Saale-Orla district is closed. According to the police, the 46-year-old was driving towards Munich in the afternoon when he lost control of his tractor unit near the Schleiz junction and crashed through the central crash barrier.
The semi-trailer tore off the tractor unit and the man was thrown out of the cab on impact. He was flown to a hospital by a rescue helicopter with life-threatening injuries. It was not yet clear how the accident occurred.
Potatoes scattered on the highway
The trailer that had been torn off had turned on its own axis and came to rest in the opposite direction to the road on the left-hand lane. Loaded potatoes scattered across the highway, according to the police. The police estimate the damage at 150,000 euros.
Recovery and cleaning work continues
The A9 was fully closed in the direction of Nuremberg after the accident at around 3 p.m., with traffic being diverted at the Schleiz junction, according to the police. In the opposite direction, only the right-hand lane and the hard shoulder are currently open. The result: traffic jams in both directions. The detour routes are also heavily congested, as the police explained in the evening. The recovery and cleaning work is expected to continue for several hours.
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